You are the best potential supporter of your creative goals

Holding yourself back is tiring. Working towards a creative goal and struggling to get there because you keep messing up for yourself is frustrating. But it's so easily done.

Creative projects have a tendency to surface many of our internal struggles, especially when they force us to grow and challenge ourselves. Fear, self-doubt and perfectionism can stand in the way, making us procrastinate, self-sabotage or stay small.

But working towards creative goals can help us grow and understand ourselves better, both as creatives and as humans. We can make better, intentional choices. We can be kinder to ourselves. We can listen to what we need, and learn how we work best, so we can finally make progress toward those goals that mean so much to us.

I'm Elin Lööw, a writer working on my first novel and writing about personal growth for creatives.

I've always been a bookworm, loved to write stories since I was a kid and long been fascinated by psychology. But I became interested in personal growth as it relates to creativity after realizing my creative fears were holding me back from writing my first novel. 

I live in Sweden together with my fiance Petrus and our two cats Pysen and Alice. Apart from writing, I'm very fond of photography, wandering in nature and snuggling down with a cup of green tea, a cat or two and a good book. 

This is what I value and believe in

Finding the creative within you

I believe that we are all creative and that creative skill comes from hard work rather than talent. Never having created a certain thing or having tried and failed doesn't mean you can't be successful in the future, if you hone your craft.

Living your own truth

We are all different and our creative journeys will all look different. They key is to figure out what you want out of your creative life, what you value and hold on to that. 

Life-long learning and growing

I believe that understanding the world and yourself, to keep learning and growing, is important parts of life. Working through our creative struggles and finding better mindsets can truly make the whole difference.

My story battling my inner creative antagonist

Books have always been a big part of my life. As a kid I was a creative bookworm who dreamed about becoming an author and writing stories like the ones I loved.

But I was shy and not too sure of myself, and while I was a bit of an outsider I also wanted to please my surroundings.

So when I as a teenager was told that being an author is only for the very best, I decided I wasn't creative enough and locked away my dream deep in my heart.

After a few years at university with no creative writing, I felt like I had lost a part of myself. I missed writing so deeply I knew I had to at least try to write. But what used to come naturally as a kid, the craft I loved to pieces, was like fighting against myself. I had been told too many times that creativity is only for the chosen few, the naturals, the very best and I couldn't possibly believe I could be one of them. And yet... I felt I had to.

My big secret was that I had never given up my childhood dream of being an author, and I was terrified of failing. 

I wrote and hated what I wrote. I wrote in bursts and then fell into creative blocks. I didn't dare to commit, I hid and downplayed my dream and yet it was stronger than ever. After a few years of on-and-off writing, I understood that my fear of failing was becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy. I would never finish my book because by not daring to fail, I was robbing myself of the chance of success too. 

I had to deal with the core issue: my creative fears.

So in 2016, I set out on what I called my Fear Year. With a heart beating from both fear and years of unreleased creative energy, I started this blog, I explored painting and I finished the second draft of my novel. I won't tell you the whole story, but most of all I learned how my own thinking affected my creativity.

I had played the role of my own creative antagonist. By listening to my fears and not dealing with my creative issues, I had held myself back from my dream.

Now, two years after I started this creative journey, I consider my life a creative one. My creative confidence is much stronger and I'm working on the third draft of my novel. 

This journey I've gone through has changed so much in my life and I see many creatives struggling with the same things I have. A new dream of mine has awoken, and it's to help my fellow creatives - you! - change from the role of the antagonist to that of the protagonist in your own story of turning creative dreams into reality.

Because when you dare to support yourself in your creative life, that's when you start making dreams come true.

Are you ready?

Read the blog, where I write about being your own biggest supporter when going after your creative dreams.

READ THE BLOG

Or send me an email and tell me about your journey!
I'd love to share a virtual cup of tea and see if I can help you.

hi@elinloow.com